Relationships Lesson 18

How does the media influence our view of love?

Cultural Bias in Representations of Romantic Relationships Psychologists believe that US romcoms have created a warped sense of the ‘perfect’ relationship and creates a culturally biased view of relationships to young people in the UK. Johnson and Holmes (2009) spent a year analysing 40 films from 1995 – 2005. They asked hundred of people to fill out questionnaires to describe beliefs and expectations about romantic relationships. They found that fans of these films were more likely to have views that were reflected in these films (e.g. How to lose a guy in 10 days). For example, the view that love and commitment begin from the moment you meet, not years to develop.

Learning Objectives To understand the influence of culture on romantic relationships. Challenge Objective Be able to apply your knowledge learned to a video showing cultural differences in romantic relationships. Success Criteria Watch a video ‘The Moaning of Life’ showing cultural differences in romantic relationships. Complete pages 25-26 of your booklet using the textbook. This will complete your notes on the cultural differences of romantic relationships. Mark a sample essay on cultural differences in romantic relationships. Highlight where there is AO1, AO2 and AO3. Challenge Criteria Be able to give an essay a mark and show areas for improvement.

2:20 28:34 Arranged marriages in India California https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7DvZHKCuIE 2:20 Arranged marriages in India 28:34 California

Key terms Western (individualist) cultures Individualistic cultures are oriented around the self, independent instead of identifying with a group mentality. They see each other as only loosely linked, and value personal goals above that of the group. Individualistic cultures tend to have a more diverse population, and are characterised with emphasis on personal achievements, and a rational assessment of both the beneficial and detrimental aspects of relationships with others. Highly individualistic cultures include the U.S., Australia, Great Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

Key terms Non-Western (collectivist) cultures Collectivistic cultures emphasise the needs and goals of the group as a whole over the needs and wishes of each individual. In such cultures, relationships with other members of the group and the interconnectedness between people play a central role in each person's identity. A few countries that are considered collectivist include Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, and India.

Task Complete pages 25 and 26 of your booklets using the textbook (pages 60-61). Extension: Create a flashcard of the study by Moore and Leung (2001). This study shows the cultural differences in romantic relationships within cultures.

Voluntary and Involuntary Relationships Western Non-Western In Western societies we live in a mobile and urban setting, so we voluntarily interact with a large number of people so can choose who we have potential relationships with. Love is more common in western relationships. In Non-Western societies there are fewer urban centres, less geographical and social mobility, and therefore have less choice over who they interact with on a daily basis. Interactions with strangers are less common and relationships are often tied to family and economic resources. In some societies non-voluntary and arranged marriages make sense. Divorce rates are low and about half report falling in love (Epstein, 2002). Myers et al. (2005) studied individuals in India in arranged marriages. No differences in marital satisfaction were found compared to individual in non-arranged marriages in the US. In countries such as China which are rapidly developing ‘love matches’ are increasing. In situations where parents dominate the process of mate choice there has been a decline from 70% prior to 1949, to less than 10% in the 1990s. A study of women in Chengdu (China) found that women who married for love felt better about marriage.

Monogamous relationships with one partner. Monogamy and Polygamy Western Non-Western Monogamous relationships with one partner. 84% of non-western relationships have more than one sexual partner (Smith, 1994) Evolutionary approach explains polygamy; in non-western societies food is scarce so mortality is high, having several fertile females increases likelihood of surviving offspring.

Individual and Group-Based Relationships Western Non-Western Great importance is placed on the rights and freedoms of the individual, the individual’s happiness is the most importance. The individual’s interests are highly regarded and relationships are formed through freedom of choice (Moghaddam et al., 1993). The group is the primary concern. Individuals are encouraged to be interdependent rather than independent. Relationships have more to do with the concerns of the family or group (Moghaddam et al., 1993) Relationships based on love are not always the most compatible partners. Parents might be in a better position to choose in terms of long-term compatibility. Young people might be ‘blinded by love’ and overlook incompatibility that could be apparent later. Freedom of mate choice appeared to lead to marital stability rather than instability.

Love Western Non-Western Relationships are based on freedom of choice. Levine et al. (1995) investigated love in 11 countries and whether respondents would be willing to marry someone who had all their desirable qualities, but they did not love. Only 14% said they would marry. In Levine et al.’s study, 24% of respondents in India and 34% of respondents in Thailand would marry. This suggests that a higher proportion would marry in the absence of love. The extended family is of greater importance. Pinker (2008) views love as being able to promote survival and reproduction in human beings. Being in a long-term relationship lowers mortality rates, increases happiness and decreases stress. Therefore love could be an evolutionary adaptive mechanism – but would need to be found across cultures. Jankowiak and Fischer (1992) searched for love across cultures and found evidence of love in tribes. 90% of the 166 cultures researched showed love in relationships.

Cultural differences in loneliness Western Non-Western Seepersad et al. (2008) suggested that young adults in Western cultures (e.g. UK and USA) would experience greater loneliness because of the high desire for romantic relationships. A sample of 227 US and Korean students found that US students reported higher levels of romantic loneliness than Koreans not in a relationship. Seepersad et al.’s study showed that Korean students relied more heavily on families to fulfil their social network need while the Americans relied more on friends and significant others. There are issues with the terms used by researchers as they are based on western ideas (e.g. ‘love’ and ‘satisfaction’); this means that they may not be valid in other cultures. Kim and Berry (1993) suggest that psychologists should develop more indigenous psychologies (explanations and methods that are specific to one culture). This means that we can study one particular culture in lots of detail.

Essay Marking You will be given a sample essay. You will need to read it and annotate with AO1, AO2 and IDA. You will then give it a mark for AO1 and AO2. Give the writer some recommendations to improve. Give the writer some positive feedback.

AO1 (8 marks)

AO2 (16 marks)